Some Thoughts on Father's Day

Every father is different, and has a different influence on his children. Some fathers teach their kids to ski or to change the oil in a car. My father didn't teach me these things. In my case, I learned about sports, coaching, and inner strength.

My dad was a big sports guy. Football, basketball, but especially baseball. He played, coached, and reffed. In his prime, he even had a try-out with a major league team. Then he went off to war, to fight Hitler and the Nazis. After coming home, he joined the police department and, after a long career, eventually became Chief of Detectives.

A natural leader and teacher, my dad was an effective coach, and a beloved one too. To this day, men who were coached by my dad decades ago, in football or basketball or baseball, will say how much they were influenced by him. Some feared him because of his toughness; some loved him because he cared so much about his players. In a nutshell, that's how I felt about him too, a mix of fear and love. A boxer in wartime, he was very strong, both physically fit and mentally tough. At the same time, he was very loving and affectionate.

If I were to distill a few of the key things my dad taught me, I would say:

- Be your own man - Figure out who you are in this life and develop yourself, your gifts, your skills. Stay in training. Never stop. Keep growing and learning.

- Don't let the SOBs get you down - During his career on the police force, he often encountered people and politicians who tested his patience and his sense of ethics. Despite the risk to his career, he took the higher road and told them where to go.

- Have moxie - Don't be timid about life. Take a chance. Be daring. Put yourself out there. Get into the game and try.

I hope that I have channeled some of my dad's influence in raising my two sons. In the end, it'll be their task to decide what sort of influence I have had on them. I can say for sure, though, that, like my dad, I have not taught them anything about skiing or changing oil in a car.

Comments

I love this Terry.. Your boys have grown in to wonderful young men. They are two of my favorite poeple in the world. There is always STS for the oil changes and skiings is expensive and dangerous. Happy Father's Day!

A frazzled cowboy once said, "I'm so busy, I don't know if I found a rope or lost my horse."
Clearly that dazed and confused cowboy is trying to make sense out his situation.
How often, in your life, can you relate to that?
Organizational psychologist Karl Weick wrote some very interesting stuff about human behavior and organization. In one piece, he wrote about a team of smoke-jumpers who were dropped by parachute into a major forest fire. Though highly trained, some things happened that they were unprepared for. As a result, they became disorganized and sadly most of them died.
What happened? Weick wondered if there was a failure of sensemaking. Sensemaking is the process by which people give meaning to what they are experiencing.
Weick's concept of "sensemaking" refers to the mental process of interpreting and constructing the reality we find ourselves in. So defined, we are sensemaking pretty much all the time as we go about our daily lives. Most of…

Serving customers is one of the most challenging jobs out there. You need to be a good listener, an effective communicator, a calm conflict mediator, and an analytical problem solver all rolled into one. You must be very organized and have infinite patience. Plus you need to wear a sunny disposition even on days when you don't feel like it.

Many have endeavored to capture the key ingredients in customer service, so I have decided to throw my hat into the ring as well.

I call my approach Customer Service With HEART:

H = Help and Hear - You are there to Help the customer. Plain and simple. And the first (and most important) thing you do is listen. Hear the customer fully before responding. This may be the toughest part of listening. We have to make the choice to listen, especially when we are busy, preoccupied, stressed, and distracted. When you focus on the Other, pay attention to What is being said, as well as What is not being said. This includes the non-verbal signs the person i…